Infamous S.C. killer mom Susan Smith is denied parole
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Susan Smith was up for parole Wednesday, and people urged officials to deny her, nearly 30 years after she was convicted of rolling her car into a South Carolina lake and drowning her two sons.
Officials heeded those pleas, denying parole.
Smith, 53, is serving life in prison after a jury decided not to sentence her to death in her 1995 murder trial. Under the law at the time, she is eligible to ask to be released after serving 30 years in prison.
Smith began speaking at around 12:05 p.m., answering questions posed by the parole board.
“I know that what I did was horrible,” Smith said, tearfully. “I would give anything to go back and change it.”
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She reiterated she was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the crime and that she would continue seeking mental health treatment if she were to be released. She also expressed remorse for law enforcement resources wasted because of her crime and subsequent cover-up attempt.
“I’m sorry,” Smith said. “I know that’s not enough. They just sound like words, but they come from my heart.”
Smith’s attorney Tommy Thomas stated he believed she was “truly remorseful” and that her lack of a criminal record and personal growth in prison position her well for parole.
“Her desire is to make her life mean something, something other than the things she has done,” Thomas said.
Following Smith’s remarks, a retired Presbyterian minister who spoke as a witness during Smith’s trial delivered remarks advocating in favor of Smith’s parole. He told the board he wrote Smith a letter every week for the entirety of her 30 years in prison.
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Tommy Pope, one of the prosecutors in Smith’s case, also spoke at the parole hearing, believing she should remain in prison.
He said it was irrelevant what Smith planned to do upon release and that her crime was calculated and purposeful.
“Susan has always focused on what’s best for Susan,” Pope said.
Family of David Smith, Susan’s ex-husband and father to Michael and Alex, also spoke at the hearing, urging the board to deny her parole.
Smith’s former sister-in-law shared a personal anecdote with the parole board detailing a scuba lesson of hers where she felt unable to breathe, which she said was the closest she has felt to what her nephews went through.
David Smith’s new wife characterized her as selfish and encouraged the board to deny Susan Smith’s parole as well.
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“They were forced the death penalty,” said Tiffany Smith, David Smith’s wife, referring to Alex and Michael.
“For 30 years, we have thought this day would never come, but here we are,” Tiffany Smith continued. “She took two precious little boys that we haven’t been able to watch grow up. She lied and manipulated everybody, the whole world. I watched it and believed it myself.”
David Smith was the final person to speak before the board’s decision.
“I’m not here to speak about what she’s done in prison,” said David Smith. “I’m here to advocate on Michael and Alex’s behalf, as their father.”
“God gives us free choice,” David Smith said. “And, [Susan] made her choice that night to end their lives. She’s never expressed any [remorse] to me, never seen it on paper. What she did, not only to Michael and Alex. She caused me to come pretty close to ending my life.”
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“Do not let her out,” he concluded. “I miss them very much and love them very much, and I will be here every two years to make sure their death doesn’t go in vain.”
Following David’s remarks, the board promptly and unanimously voted to deny her parole. Susan Smith will become eligible for parole again in two years.
One member of the parole board, Geraldine Miro, recused herself from Smith’s hearing in an effort to be unbiased, due to Miro having served as interim warden at a prison where Smith had been housed.
“Today, the committee made the right decision and denied her parole for another two years,” said David Smith. “At least I know, for now, she’s still behind bars. For two more years, there will still be justice for Michael and Alex.
SUSAN SMITH PRISON RECORD:
Prosecutors said Smith was having an affair with the wealthy son of the owner of the business she worked at. He broke it off because she had two young sons, and Smith decided that she was going to kill her children in response.
Smith eventually confessed to letting her car roll down a boat ramp and into the lake. A re-creation by investigators showed it took six minutes for the Mazda to dip below the water surface, while cameras inside the vehicle showed water pouring in through the vents and steadily rising. The boys’ bodies were found dangling upside-down in their car seats, one tiny hand pressed against a window.
Prosecutors sought the death penalty and the trial of the young mother became a national sensation and a true crime touchstone even though it wasn’t televised by a judge who worried about what cameras were doing to the O.J. Simpson murder trial going on at the same time. A jury convicted Smith but decided she did not deserve the death penalty.
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